Caelestis Indomitus

Projectile Weapons

Projectiles are generally solid slugs delivered to the target, where the velocity and density of the slug hopefully punch throught the target’s defenses and cause damage. The most basic projectile weapons launch a small hunk of metal at roughly the speed of sound; the most advanced can push around mountains or molecules at greater than the speed of light. Projectile weapons tend to be slightly more expensive than beam weapons, but the top end damage is considerably higher.

Projectile Weapon Mounts: Like beam weapons, projectile weapons are mounted on turrets or in banks that, coupled with the starship’s ability to adjust its orientation, allow the weapon to fire in any direction. The cost of a turret mount or bank is included in the purchase DC of the weapon.

∇ — With a successful Repair check (DC 30) and 1 hour of work, this weapon can be modified for semiautomatic or automatic fire mode. Resetting the weapon to its original configuration requires another check and another hour of labor.

Damage: The damage a weapon deals. Also the average damage for that weapon.

Critical: The critical threat range of the weapon.

Damage Type: Projectile weapons deal ballistic damage.

Range Increment: A weapon’s range increment is given in feet. An attack at less than this distance is not penalized for range. However, each full range increment causes a cumulative -2 penalty on the attack roll. Projectile weapons have unlimited range.

Rate of fire: Ranged weapons have three possible rates of fire:

Single Shot: A weapon with a single shot rate of fire can fire only one shot per attack, even if the gunner has a feat or other ability that normally allows more than one shot per attack.

Semiautomatic: A semiautomatic ranged weapon fires one shot per attack (effectively acting as a single shot weapon). However, a gunner who gain mutliple attacks per round because of level or because or certain feats can fire a semiautomatic beam weapon multiple times in succession, getting more than one shot per attack.

Automatic: Automatic ranged weapons fire a burst or stream of shots. Only weapons with the automatic rate of fire can be set on autofire or be used with feats that take advantage of automatic fire.

If a starship weapon has an automatic rate of fire, it can be set on autofire. Autofire affects an area and everything in it, not a specific target. The starship using the autofire weapon targets a 1,000-foot-by-1,000-foot area and makes an Attack Roll; the targeted area has an effective Defense of 10. If the attack succeeds, the pilots of all ships within the affected area must make a Pilot check (DC 15) or take the weapon’s damage. Apply a penalty on the check based on the size of the pilot’s ship: Huge = -2, Gargantuan = -4, Colossal = -8.

Minimum ship size: The minimum size of a starship capable of supporting the weapon.